Laser powder bed fusion of a novel high strength Al-Mg alloy via Si and Zn microalloying

Doping expensive elements, such as Sc or Zr, is an effective method for development of laser additively manufactured high strength Al-Mg alloys. In this work, a novel high strength Al-Mg alloy was fabricated by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) via microalloying of cost-effective Si an Zn elements. The microstructures were typically featured by nanosized cellular eutectic Mg2Si and solute supersaturation of Zn. The as-LPBFed Al-5Mg-2Si-1.4Zn alloys exhibited high ultimate tensile strength of 506 MPa, yield strength of 382 MPa and elongation of 7.3%. This study provides a new strategy for the fabrication of high strength Al-Mg alloys by LPBF.